THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Though it may seem somewhat cliche, I believe that DSOTM is not only the best of the Floyd, reflecting the very essence of the band, but the best album ever. There, I said it. This album was very important in my life- it was the path I followed into progressive rock as a whole, it was a piece of philosophy I built my worldview on (uh oh...), and it was an album I could turn to any time I needed something to listen to- and while I hardly ever listen to it nowadays (too "normal", possibly?), that doesn't change my opinion that it is the greatest album ever made.

The legend beings with Speak to Me, a quiet sound collage that, with the screams of a pregnant mother, segues into Breathe- this song is amazing, the lyrics a description of the dismal, Sisyphean life a newborn baby will face. Then comes On the Run, a sequencer-based (a year before Tangerine Dream's Phaedra, mind you), ominous song that seems to be about travel- various effects, like an airport PA system, helicopters, footsteps, and a massive crash at the end seem to capture the feeling of doubt that comes with travel, that any mechanical or human error could send us into a horrific fireball. After that is Time, with its legendary opening of many, many clocks going off at the same time- this song has some of the best lyrics ever penned, perfectly capture the strange way that time passes- the fact that days seem to be near endless, but years float by like butterflies. At the end comes a reprise of Breathe, which seems to feed directly into the next song, Great Gig in the Sky- possibly my least favorite song from the album, but that says very, very little- Clare Torry's vocals work very well with the piano and organs that accompany her- though it is a bit disappointing that we don't get to hear the Floyd's musings on religion, the song is still excellent. Then comes Money, with a funky, aggressive bassline and a sax solo in the middle that perfectly works with the theme- greed and obsession with cash. After that, is one of the best peices of music ever created- the somber Us and Them. What lyrics this has, and instrumentation to back it up. Some of the best poetry ever made, coupled with sad keyboard and sax work- it's tear-jerkingly sad to know that we as a race can be so evil, when we are capable of so much good, that we waste so much time fighting and killing one another, when we could work together to make a better world, that we always believe our nation is the perfect one, the one that is always in the right, and yet it always degenerates into a sleazy, corrupt ball of filth, and it will always fall, and another shall take its place and suffer the same fate. This song is pure gold, and relates very well to current events- and sadly, it always will. Anyway, this is followed by Any Colour You Like, an excellent instrumental, featuring marvelous performances from all parties involved- especially synths and guitar. The eighth (or ninth) track on the album is Brain Damage, which seems to deal with mental illness and might have a subtext of how crazy a government can be. Overall, it is a sad song, yet somehow cheerful at the same time, and this goes directly into Eclipse, and epic conclusion that excellently sums up the album, and in the end, our lives- at the final hour, when we're about to die, it turn out that everything that has led up to this moment, everything that we have done, is essentially meaningless. Then you die. Overall, a simply splendid album, perfect in nearly every way, never equaled by anything ever made by anyone else. Recommended to anybody, prog fan or not, with an open mind and 43 minutes to spare.